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Volksgewehr
The Volksgewehr also known as VG ("People's Rifle") is the name of several rifle designs developed by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. They share the common characteristic of being greatly simplified as an attempt to cope with severe lack of resources and industrial capacities in Germany during the final period of the war. The Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr originated from the same push.
Volksgewehr 1 (Walther)
The Walther Volksgewehr VG 1 is a manually operated bolt-action rifle. It uses a simple rotating bolt, with locking provided by the two frontal lugs; the crude bolt handle engages a cut in the cast steel receiver to provide additional safety. Since it was known in advance that the barrel was the most difficult component to produce, the German armaments committee ordered the Luftwaffe to hand over approximately 245,000 reserve barrels of its MG 15, MG 17 and MG 81 machine guns for adapting to VG-1. The feed is from detachable 10-round box magazines, originally developed for the Gewehr 43 rifle, also produced by Walther. About 400,000 of these magazines were in warehouses and could be transferred to the Volkssturm. Due to the extremely simplified design, there were no guides for the charging clips, and each rifle was issued with few magazines, then replenished with separate rounds. The manual safety is also very crude, and consist of a stamped steel lever pinned to the trigger guard just behind the trigger. When engaged, the safety lever blocks trigger movement. To disengage the safety the user must turn it sideways with a finger. The stock is crudely made from wood, and non-adjustable iron sights are provided for close-range shooting only. It was initially meant to be produced by Zbrojovka Brno in the current-day Czech Republic.
The initial plan was drawn up for the frankly fantastic “1,500,000 folk rifles of the Walther system, complete with accessories”; the development company and parent enterprises were to produce from January 1945 from 100,000 to 150,000 rifles per month (eventually, apparently, reduced to a plan for a more realistic 30,000 per month, figures that also, with the exception of the first month of production (11/'44), apparently never achieved). There are claims that partial data suggest that at least 82,033 were produced; if this is so, then the total volume is unlikely to exceed 100 thousand. Most of these rifles did not survive the post-war period, most likely being scrapped and disassembled for parts due to their extremely low characteristics.
Specifications
(late 1944 and early 1945)
- Type: Bolt-action rifle
- Caliber: 7.92x57mm Mauser
- Weight: 3.77 kg empty
- Length: 1092 mm
- Barrel length: 589 mm
- Feed System: 10-round detachable box magazine from G43 (loaded with single rounds)
The Volksgewehr 1 and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Volksgewehr 2 (Spreewerk Berlin)
The Spreewerk Berlin Volksgewehr VG 2 is also a manually operated bolt-action rifle with a similar rotating bolt and crude manual safety. Locking is provided by two frontal lugs which lock into the steel insert pinned inside the stamped steel receiver. The VG 2 rifle as VG 1 is fed from detachable box magazines, originally developed for Gewehr 43. The stock is crudely made from wood and consists of two separate parts: shoulder stock with semi-pistol grip and fore-end. Wood parts are permanently pinned to the receiver. Non-adjustable iron sights are provided for close-range shooting only, and zeroed for 100 metres (110 yd).
Specifications
(late 1944 and early 1945)
- Type: Bolt-action rifle
- Caliber: 7.92x57mm Mauser
- Weight: 3.85 kg
- Length: 1068 mm
- Barrel length: ??
- Feed System: 10-round detachable box magazine from G43 (loaded with single rounds)
The Volksgewehr 2 and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enlisted | "VG.2" | 2021 |
Volksgewehr 3 (Rheinmetall)
The Rheinmetall Volksgewehr VG 3 was the third of five rifle designs. It was a bolt-action rifle using the 30-round magazine of the Sturmgewehr 44. Less than 50 are thought to have been produced.
Specifications
(late 1944 and early 1945)
- Type: Bolt action carbine
- Caliber: 7.92x33mm Kurz
- Feed System: 30-round detachable box magazine from StG 44
The Volksgewehr 3 and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Volksgewehr 4 (Mauser)
The Mauser Volksgewehr VG 4 was the fourth of five rifle designs. It was a bolt-action rifle chambered for 7.92x33mm Kurz or 7.92x57mm bullets, fed into an internal magazine by 5-round stripper clips. Less than 10 are believed to have been produced.
Specifications
(late 1944 and early 1945)
- Type: Bolt-action carbine / Bolt-action rifle
- Calibre: 7.92x33mm Kurz / 7.92x57mm Mauser
- Feed System: 5-round integrated magazine
The Volksgewehr 4 and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Volksgewehr 5 (Steyr)
The Steyr Volksgewehr VG 5 rifle (or more correctly, the Volkssturmkarabiner VK 98) was slightly less basic. It used the Mauser Gewehr 98 type bolt action with rotary bolt, some of the early guns actually had serialised K98 bolts and/or receivers probably sourced from parts storages or rejected from main production for some reasons. Later guns had more parts produced specifically for VG5, these were standard K98 parts, but of very low quality, they were obviously distinguishable by virtually lacking any finish. The barrels were actually all K98 standard barrels. It had an internal magazine, just like K98, though with simpler unremovable bottom plate, very basic unadjustable fixed sights and very simple short stock, making it indeed a simplified and low quality sporter stocked K98.
These rifle prototypes were developed as part of the Volkssturm-Mehrladegewehr ("People's Assault Repeating Rifle") program
Specifications
(late 1944 and early 1945)
- Type: Bolt action rifle
- Caliber: 7.92x57mm Mauser
- Weight: 3.13 kg
- Length: 1031 mm
- Barrel length: 598 mm
- Feed System: 5-round integrated magazine
The Volksgewehr 5 and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forgotten Hope 2 | Single shot | 2007 |
Volksgewehr 45 (Erma Werke)
The Erma Werke Volksgewehr 45 is a German prototype bolt-action rifle developed in the 1945. During the "Primitiv-Waffen" program, the Erma Werke company designed its rifle. It was supposed to be a full-fledged bolt-action rifle powered by StG 44 magazines. At a certain stage of development, the company stopped producing the weapon. The shortened variant was to be produced by Rheinmetall and called Volksgewehr 45K. Probably only one copy was made.
Specifications
(late 1944 and early 1945)
- Type: Bolt action carbine
- Caliber: 7.92x33mm Kurz
- Feed System: 30-round detachable box magazine from StG 44
The Volksgewehr 45 and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Volksgewehr 45K (Rheinmetall)
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The Rheinmetall Volksgewehr 45K is a German prototype bolt-action carbine developed in the 1945. During the "Primitiv-Waffen" program, the Erma Werke company designed its rifle. It was supposed to be a full-fledged bolt-action rifle powered by StG 44 magazines. At a certain stage of development, the company stopped producing the weapon. The shortened variant was to be produced by Rheinmetall and called Volksgewehr 45K. Like the long version, this one was not built in large numbers.
Specifications
(late 1944 and early 1945)
- Type: Bolt action carbine
- Length: 88cm
- Barrel Length: 39cm
- Weight: 2.95kg
- Caliber: 7.92x33mm Kurz
- Feed System: 10 / 30-round detachable box magazine from StG 44
The Volksgewehr 45K and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Wetzlar Rifle (Hessische Industrie Werke)
The Wetzlar Rifle. Chambered for the 7.92×57mm Mauser rifle round. It used standard 5-round stripper clips to fill the fixed internal magazine. To operate, the "bolt" handle is actually attached to the barrel, and pushed forward to feed a new round to a fixed bolt and breech face. The semi-automatic carbine based on the Wetzlar Rifle is called Wetzlar Carbine, with the cartridge changed to 7.92×33mm Kurz. Other known names for this project are: Hessische Industrie Werke VolksSturmKarabiner (HIW VSK).
Specifications
(late 1944 and early 1945)
- Type: Bolt action rifle
- Caliber: 7.92x57mm Mauser
- Feed System: 5 round integral mag.
The Wetzlar Rifle and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors: